Editorial: Dover site use change raises questions

In many ways, efforts to redevelop the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center have mirrored the economy over the last decade.

Unbridled optimism by developers and fears of rampant growth by many residents have given way to the stark realization that virtually no progress has been made - that, economically, a "new normal" starting with the recession about five years ago is still very much with us.

And so what once were ambitious plans to create about 1,400 homes and a substantial businesses center on the massive 840-acre property are going by the wayside. Instead, the Long Island-based Benjamin Cos., which has been heralding the so-called Dover Knolls project, has sold about 503 acres to Olivet University, which has the option to buy the rest of the property.

Olivet University is a private, relatively new Christian higher-learning institution, founded by Korean pastor David Jang in 1992 as a small Bible college.

The university purchased the property under Olivet Management and hopes the site will eventually include educational facilities, retail vendors, an information technology center and a research and development component.

At this point, there are more questions than answers. And, to its credit, the Dover Town Board will hold a public informational meeting about the transition at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Representatives from Olivet University and Olivet Management are expected to speak at the meeting.

Benjamin Cos. purchased the property in October 2003 for $3.95 million, but it was always clear far more money was going to have to be invested to clean up the former psychiatric center, renovate some buildings, destroy others and build anew.

In the early 1990s, the state was going to sell off parts of the property but local officials and residents urged them to keep it intact, hoping for a more comprehensive plan for the site.

While some parts of the property have been cleaned up, the project was a long way from final approval and any substantial construction. At the time Benjamin Cos. purchased the land, the housing industry was thriving and growing in the mid-Hudson Valley, and the site boasts many benefits, including having direct access to the Route 22 corridor and an adjacent train station. The site also has its own power, water and sewer plants. Redeveloping this land in some capacity is imperative.

But whether Olivet has the ability and wherewithal to pull off what it plans remains to be seen. And, surely, since this will be educational use, the town will not reap the tax bonanza it was hoping for if the Benjamin Cos. project had moved forward and was completed as envisioned.

These questions and far more have to be addressed.

Considering the dashed hopes and broken promises associated with this site over the last few decades, residents undoubtedly will be skeptical. The onus will be on Olivet to allay those fears and move forward with a realistic project that will actually work.

Next week's meeting will be the first in what surely will have to be a host of efforts to build something critically important - community support.

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Editorial: Dover site use change raises questions

In many ways, efforts to redevelop the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center have mirrored the economy over the last decade.

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